Rules are rules? No, they are there to be interpreted and tonight�s UEFA Champions Cup final in Paris proved that a football referee cannot think on his feet.
It is ironic that the governing body created the rule that evidently killed what could have been a classic game of football, but the game was a farce from the start.
The original referee was replaced due to a laughable situation where he was caught wearing an Arsenal shirt, and the questions will begin as to whether the replacement had a point to prove.
However the officials performed on the night, it was never looking like a game of two halves. The sending off of Lehman meant Arsenal were on the back foot after the twentieth minute and Barcelona tried to take advantage with some impressive possession football. For all the possession, however, they could not find the net and Arsenal punished the Spaniards in the 37th minute.
Arsenal may have felt badly treated with the red card of their goalkeeper, but they were given a very dubious free-kick on the edge of the box, when Emmanuel Eboue made an Olympic dive after a challenge by Carles Puyol. Henry was happy to accept the free-kick and hooked a quality pass onto the head of Campbell, who headed in from close range.
Arsenal had a lot of work to do to maintain their lead before half-time and the stand-in goalkeeper, Almunia, made an impressive save late on, when he touched an Eto�o shot onto the post after his defence were caught napping.
The second half seemed to be a stalemate as Arsenal went all out to defend the Barcelona attack and the London club were saved again by an outstanding save from a spinning shot in wet conditions from Iniesta.
From that save, Arsenal appeared to wake up and powered forward with an impressive shot from Ljungberg which was denied by Valdes, but the best chance to go two ahead was handed to Henry and many Londoners would have been calling their bookmakers to stake their house on him scoring, but the Frenchman fired straight at Valdes, in the 69th minute.
Barcelona then gave former Celtic star, Henrikk Larsson, the nod and he lost no time in trying to help his former club gain automatic entry to the League draw.
With 16 minutes remaining, Larsson directed a fine pass onto the foot of Eto'o, who fired past Almunia. It was a goal that the Spanish crowd expected and the British crowd dreaded.
Barca were given the confidence to go for the winner and they did that in the 80th minute when Larsson again provided an assist, this time towards Belleti, who fired in a shot that was deflected in by the Arsenal keeper.
Arsenal looked dead and buried from that moment on and found it difficult to string a pass together once they had managed to gain possession, as the Spaniards mastered the art of keep ball.
The Arsenal fans may not be as unhappy as they should be after hearing the post-match interview of Thierry Henry, who was upset and hinted at the possibility of a stay with Arsenal.
Barcelona: Valdes, Oleguer (Belletti 71), Marquez, Puyol, Van Bronckhorst, Deco, Edmilson (Iniesta 45), Van Bommel (Larsson 61), Giuly, Eto'o, Ronaldinho.
Subs Not Used: Jorquera, Motta, Xavi, Sylvinho.
Booked: Oleguer, Larsson.
Goals: Eto'o 76, Belletti 80.
Arsenal: Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Pires (Almunia 20), Silva, Fabregas (Flamini 74), Hleb (Reyes 85), Ljungberg, Henry.
Subs Not Used: Bergkamp, Van Persie, Senderos, Clichy.
Sent Off: Lehmann (18).
Booked: Eboue, Henry.
Goals: Campbell 37.
Att: 79,500Ref: Terje Hauge (Norway).
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